Which tremolo sounds best when not being "whammied?"

[spauldingrules]

Which tremolo sounds best when not being "tremoloed" (in an Alder strat)?  Basically, which has the best tone irrespective of whammy functionality?

 

[m4rk0]

I can't really decide, since I love the way some of my floyds, wilkinsons and vintage trem equipped guitars sound.

I heard/read a lot of good stories about the vintage style trems from Callaham.. they supposedly have a better sounding block.
or you can keep your existing trem, and buy a detemple titanium tremblock for it. only costs about $250

 

[Orpheo]

hipshot. simply the best.

 

[thepriebster]

You might want to check this out, best of both worlds...

http://www.tremol-no.com/

 

[neilium]

I'm with m4rk0: can't decide. The Callaham strat bridge is a work of art, though. The Wilkinson 6-hole strat bridge is 80% as good for less money (IMO). I have one guitar with a Floyd, and the Floyd makes it such a completely different instrument than anything else I own which I enjoy for different reasons than my strat. It's not an apples to apples comparison.

However, if forced to choose, then 6-hole strat, and for completely unscientific cuz-I-said-so reasons.

 

[dudesweet157]

For zero use, I would pop a 6-hole Strat vibrato in it.  I just like the way the bent steel saddles and steel block sound together.  I also think that the way the screws attach the bridge to the body has a lot to do with the tone of a Strat.  Having six screws holding the bridge to the body instead of the bridge riding on a knife's edge just seems like it would transfer more resonance to the body.

 

[stubhead]

I voted for the six-hole vintage, but I'm not sure I'm right... the "sproinginess" of the floating spring mounting is held by many to be an important part of classic Strat tone, though plenty of people play them blocked too, or with five springs, or lower-only. Guitarists in general are such traditionalists that I don't think there's been any research on whether a two-point suspension is as sproingy as the six screws. I prefer two-point & floaty myself.

 

[m4rk0]

not sure if this is completely true, but according to the detemple site, with the 2-pivot systems, the tone is mainly determined by the strings and tremolo, while with a 6 screw bridge, the tone is more based on the wood of the neck and body.
it does make sense, but never really noticed it myself that way.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Aside from the vintage PRS bridges, I'd say an old Mighy Might strat trem bridge I had in the mid 80's.  I was machined brass througout, with a huge & heavy sustain block, & it was very resonant.

I had a PRS that had the old type of bridge that consisted of the base plate & sustain block being one complete piece of nickel plated machined brass.  They've since gone to making each piece separately, & I personally don't feel that they compare to the earlier ones like the one I had in 91-94.

 

[zeppelin]

Since you guys like 6 hole Vintage Fender, Try 6 hole Gotoh/Wilkinson VSVG Vintage, way so much better, sustain, resonance, string tone transfer is so much better due to the design of the saddles, after intonating, you tighten the saddles down, unlike Fender design saddles where each saddles sits on the 2 stud screws and when you change strings the saddles will go dangling around and you may lose intonation.

I break alot of my 1st strings after playing a few times on the original Fender 6 holes trem, since using the Gotoh/wilkinson VSVG, it solves the problem of string breakage not due to wear and tear.

 

[vegababy]

When it comes to vintage Strat I'd go with Wilkinson VSV. That thing just 'makes sense' and for Floyd Rose I'd go with Schaller. At least they try to use materials to improve sound/sustain quality.
Can't compare the both. Love both equally.